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Disney Buys Maker Studios, Video Supplier for YouTube - NYTimes.com: " . . . the deal validates venture-style investments in the content business. Maker, founded in 2009, has received more than $70 million in funding from a large number of investors, including Time Warner Investments, Elizabeth Murdoch, Greycroft Partners and Ynon Kreiz, who is Maker’s chief executive. Mr. Kreiz will continue to run Maker, which will notably not become part of Disney’s struggling web and video game division. Instead, the online video company, based in Culver City, Calif., will answer to James A. Rasulo, Disney’s chief financial officer. “We’re doing that because the best value for Maker is to serve all of our business units,” Mr. Mayer said .... Disney is not the only Hollywood company that sees promise in YouTube-based channel operators. DreamWorks Animation, for instance, recently bought AwesomenessTV, which focuses on teenagers, in a deal worth up to $117 million. A year ago, AwesomenessTV had about 400,000 subscribers and 80.6 million video views. Now it has more than 1.2 million subscribers and 283 million video views." (read more at link above)

Cable’s Next Big Threat: Loss of Ad Dollars To YouTube, AOL - Digits - WSJ: "It turns out that cord-cutting isn’t the only threat facing cable channels. Several of the big ad-supported online video outlets, including Google’s YouTube, AOL and others, plan this upfront season to target some of the ad dollars that currently flow to cable channels, industry executives say. The web video outlets see a vulnerability in second tier cable networks, and to a lesser extend in the local TV-station market, executives say. According to multiple media buyers and ad sellers in the Web video industry, digital media companies are looking to draw direct comparisons between their audiences and cable TV networks, a match-up Web video outlets think they can win. Buyers say Google is likely to be the most aggressive on this front, given YouTube’s massive size and its young demographics that don’t necessarily watch a lot of TV. The company has been selling directly against cable networks, with pitches like “X YouTube net reaches more women than E! or Awesomeness TV reaches more tweens than ABC Family.” In one pitch, for instance, YouTube cited Nielsen data from November showing that it reached 49% of all 18 to 34 year olds, versus 45% for FX, 44% for TBS’ comedies, 41% for Comedy Central and 40% for AMC...."

Pay TV subscriber losses totaled 104,000 in 2013 | BGR: "According to new data from Leichtman Research Group, pay TV providers posted a net loss of 104,000 subscribers in 2013, the first time the pay TV industry has ever lost subscribers year-over-year. The biggest losers were Time Warner Cable and Comcast, which respectively lost 825,00 and 305,000 pay TV subscribers each." (read more at link above)

Ready for Marissa’s Closeup? Yahoo Is Considering Creating Its Own YouTube (And Poaching YouTube Stars). | Re/code: "...“Yahoo Screen was part one,” said one producer who has agreed to be part of Yahoo’s video effort, about its current offerings. “Now, this is part two.”
For now, at least, Yahoo isn’t talking about replicating YouTube’s open platform, which lets users upload 100 hours of content every minute to the site. Instead, it is interested in cherry-picking particularly popular, more professional YouTube fare.
Yahoo has also told some video owners that it can use its well-trafficked home page and other high-profile real estate to promote their clips on a non-exclusive basis.
After a year, one source inside Yahoo said, it might open the platform up further. One source inside the company said that Yahoo is prepping a new content management system for the effort, although some have suggested it could also buy an existing service like Vimeo...."
But YouTube has a big lead.

Popular streaming channels:Netflix: The king of movie and TV show streaming. $7.99/mo.
YouTube: User-submitted videos and some original programming. Free.
Hulu Plus: TV shows days after they air and some movies. $7.99/mo.
Amazon Prime: A strong Netflix competitor with other Amazon benefits. $79/year.
Crackle: Movies and TV mostly from Sony's library. Free.
Vudu: Movie rental site owned by Walmart. Fees per movie